WWE Programming Would Benefit from Bringing Back Stables

Jim Rogash/Getty ImagesWith so many superstars on their programming, the WWE needs to bring back stables to help develop meaningful stories.

2.6K

Reads

30

Comments

For the most part, stables always have had their place within the fictional world of professional wrestling.

From The Four Horsemen to D-Generation X, stables have provided the vehicle for feuds to develop, and for lesser talents to get some television time and meaningful storylines.

And yet, for some reason or another, the WWE has strayed away from forming and pushing stables, and the product has suffered because of it.

Take the Nexus, for example.

When the Nexus debuted in the summer of 2010, it seemed as if the entire WWE was turned upside down. In that episode of WWE Raw when the seven superstars debuted sporting the "N" armbands, people were shocked, and the group laid waste to everyone in sight.

Unfortunately, for everyone in the group—save for Wade Barrett—the momentum was short-lived, mainly due to the fact that there was no "face" stable or group of good guys who could challenge these "heels."

If there would have been a stable of "faces," meaningful storylines could have been created to provide programs for the wrestlers involved in each group, but because there was no real competition for the stable, eventually the Nexus storyline fizzled out.

During the Attitude Era in the late 1990s and the early 2000s, the WWE heavily relied on stables to help with story development.

Feuding with other stables such as the Nation of Domination or the Corporation allowed mid-card wrestlers to battle each other with a meaningful story attached to the feud.

If there were stables in today's WWE it would provide those wrestlers stuck in mid-card obscurity a chance to engage in meaningful matches with decent storylines and adequate build—a welcome change from the random matches that seem to be thrown together on current WWE programming, where feuds change from week to week.

While a guy like Zack Ryder is popular with the fans, the WWE has never really given him a meaningful story arc, and his exposure has suffered because of this.

However, if Ryder was a member of a stable, he could be involved in a decent feud with a member of a rival stable, providing the WWE universe with a feud that not only makes sense but also has the potential to build week after week.

The utilization of multiple stables during the Attitude Era is one of the plot devices that helped make the product so good. Since the Attitude Era, the WWE has undergone significant changes.

In SmackDown, the WWE had a secondary program that needed a roster of stars and new storylines, and now with WWE Monday Night Raw expanding to the three-hour supershow format, the WWE could use stables now more than ever.

With so many superstars on the roster between the two programs, mid-carders need reasons to feud and television time to stay relevant with the WWE universe.